Tony Khan Addresses AEW TV Deal, Possibility of Going Head to Head With WWE

All Elite Wrestling announced a television deal this week with TNT that will begin in the fall, but we still do not know the exact date the new show will premiere or which night of the week it will air.

Tony Khan sat down with Bleacher Report to try and clarify some of the aspects of the television deal, as well as address any rumors that his upstart promotion will go head to head with WWE.

What we know about the deal already is that AEW will get a cut of the advertising revenue that is generated from the show, and WarnerMedia will be covering the productions costs of the show. Though AEW will not be getting any rights fees for their content, the deal is still a massive success for a promotion that has yet to hold an event.

Khan addressed one (false) rumor that had persisted in recent weeks that AEW was going to be buying time on TNT. Khan said that he would not ever "pay for time on television."

Also during the interview, Khan said the company would not consider going head to head with WWE on Monday or Friday nights. SmackDown will be moving to Friday nights when the brand moves to FOX this fall, and there have been rumors that AEW could premiere at that time on Tuesday nights to fill the Tuesday night wrestling void left by SmackDown.

Khan also said he would not want to air opposite the NFL, which has Thursday Night Football, so Tuesday or Wednesday are the only options for the new AEW show. However, Tuesday nights are not without issue as TNT airs NBA games on Tuesday nights during the Spring.

Khan also addressed the future touring schedule for the brand. He noted that AEW will focus on generating most of their revenue through television and PPV, so they won't have the kind of live events load that WWE does.

"[My] big goal is to establish a better work-life balance and quality of life for our performers with less time on the road [and] very good money comparable to what you'd get at the highest level in the world of wrestling, because we can make the bulk of our revenue from pay-per-view and television," Khan said. "I'm not planning on doing hundreds of non-televised events on tour, because I don't think that would represent a large enough revenue stream for us and profitable enough business sector for us to risk the health and well-being of all these wrestlers.

"I'm not gonna have an offseason, but there will be a lighter schedule and we'll work people in and out."